Social Psychology

Chapter 16
 Why Study Attitudes?
Attitudes are important because they:
 strongly influence our social thought
 help to organize and evaluate stimuli (e.g.,
categorizing stimuli as positive or negative)
 presumably have a strong affect on behavior
 help to predict people’s behavior in wide range of
contexts (e.g., voting, interpersonal relations)

4.5
 Attitudes
 How are attitudes formed?
 Do attitudes influence behavior?
 How are attitudes changed?

4.4
Definition
 Evaluations of any aspect of our social world.
 Automobiles
 Abortion
 President Bush
Attitude Structure
Gun Control

Affect: “Guns make me sick!”

Co
t
fec

Behavior: “I vote for gun control

g
ni t
Af

whenever possible.”
io n
Cognition: “Guns in the house
increase the likelihood of children
accidentally shooting themselves.”
Behavior
 Attitude Formation
 social learning- acquire attitudes from others
 classical conditioning- learning based on
association
 subliminal conditioning- without awareness

 instrumental conditioning- learn to hold the

“right” views
 observational learning- learning by observing
actions of others and exposure to mass media
 Attitude Formation (con’t)
 social comparison- compare ourselves to others
to determine if our view of reality is correct
 attitudes are shaped by social information from
others we like or respect
 genetic factors- inherited general dispositions
(e.g., see world in a positive or negative light)
 highly heritable attitudes and gut-level preferences
(music) are especially influenced
Summary
 Attitudes are evaluations of any aspect of our
social world
 Attitudes are often learned
 Attitudes are also formed through social
comparison
 New research suggests attitudes are
influenced by genetic factors
 Attitude-Behavior Link
 Attitudes do not always predict behavior
 LaPiere (1934) found that virtually all businesses
served Chinese couple courteously, yet most owners
held negative attitudes
 Sun-worshippers know the dangers of exposure to
the sun, yet they tan anyway
 “looking good” attitude takes precedence over

attitudes toward personal health

Forward
 LaPiere Study
Would you serve Chinese people?

Did Serve Would Serve

120% 100% 99%

100%
80%

60%
40%
8% 9%
20%
Back 0%
Restaurants Hotels, Motels
Attitude Change

 Dissonance Theory

 Persuasion

 Elaboration-Likelihood Model
Attitude Formation & Change
 Cognitive Dissonance Theory

 Festinger and Carlsmith study

 $20
Told next person
tasks were fun
and interesting

Asked how
Boring
much they
Tasks
enjoyed experiment

Told next person

tasks were fun
and interesting
$1
Festinger & Carlsmith Study Results
25
Enjoyment of the Task

20

15

10

0
Control $1 Condition $20 Condition
Condition
Reward Conditions
Cognitive Approach to Attitude Change
 Persuasion
 efforts to change attitudes through various kinds of
messages.
 Early persuasion research focused on:
 The communicator (source)
 What they said (message)
 How they said it (channels)
 Who was listening (audience)
 Research suggests there are two routes through
which information is processed
 The Elaboration-Likelihood Model
Elaboration-Likelihood Model
Nonverbal
cues
Message important
Heuristic
unimportant,
processing
uninteresting
Argument
strength
Peripheral Route unimportant

Nonverbal
cues
Message unimportant
Systematic
important,
processing
interesting
Argument
strength
Central Route important
Figure 16.10 Overview of the persuasion process
Factors Influencing Information
Processing
 We tend to use systematic processing when:
 we are strongly motivated
 accuracy motivation
 impression motivation
 defensive motivation
 we have a high ability to do so
 We tend to use heuristic processing when:
 we are unmotivated
 we lack the ability to systematically process info
 Competing Collaborating
High
Distributive
Dimension Integrative
Concern for Your Goals

Dimension

Compromising

Accommodating
Low Avoiding
Low High
Concern for Other’s Goals
Factors That Influence Strategy Selection

 Skills
 Willingness of other participant
 Perception of future relationship
 Attributions about others’ behavior
Person Perception:
Forming Impressions of Others
 Effects of physical appearance
 Cognitive schemas
 Stereotypes
 Prejudice and discrimination
 Subjectivity in person perception
 Evolutionary perspectives
Attribution Processes: Explaining
Behavior
 Attributions
 Internal vs. External
 Kelley’s covariation model
 Biases in attributions
 Fundamental attribution error
 Defensive attribution
 Self-serving bias
 Cultural influences